Response of eggplant varieties (Solanum melongena) to salinity in germination and seedling stages

Abstract

Knowledge of salt tolerance in vegetable plants is necessary to increase productivity and profitability of crops irrigated with saline wastewaters. Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is moderately sensitive to salinity but more attention to salinity is required in the agricultural production of eggplant and its varieties. The objective of the present work was to investigate the response of some eggplant varieties to increasing salinity during the germination and seedling stages. Germination, length, and dry and fresh weight of radicle and hypocotyl, length and dry and fresh weight of root and shoot, number and area of leaves and sodium (Na + ) and potassium (K + ) ions in seedling leaves, were the assayed parameters. Increasing salt stress (0, 50, 100, and 150 mM NaCl) negatively affected growth and development of eggplant (S. melongena 'Kemer', 'Pala', and 'Aydin Siyahi') at the germination (percentage and period; length and fresh and dry weight of of radicle and hypcotyl) and seedling stages (length and fresh and dry weight of root, shoot, and whole plant; leaf number and area). When salt concentration increased, leaf Na + content increased but K + content and K + /Na + ratio decreased. The response of varieties to salt was different depending on the growth stage, and salinity tolerance of cultivars increased at the later growth stages.

Comparison of growth and mineral accumulation of two solanaceous species,Solanum scabrumMill. (huckleberry) andS. melongenaL. (eggplant), under salinity stress

“…The decrease in leaf K is similar to that reported in other plants (Azevedo Neto et al 2004;Tavakkoli et al 2010Tavakkoli et al , 2011Wang et al 2011) as well as in other cultivars of eggplant (Abbas et al 2010;Unlukara et al 2010;Akinci et al 2004;Shaheen et al 2012) under salinity stress. This decrease in leaf K could be attributable to competitive inhibition by Na (Zang et al 2010).…”

“…The increased leaf Na content in eggplant is characteristic of nonhalophytes that are unable to synchronize Na transport to the leaves with compartmentation (Greenway and Munns 1980). Similar results have been reported by Akinci et al (2004) and Abbas et al (2010) on other eggplant cultivars, in which they concluded that eggplant has a glycophytic characteristic due to its inability to control the uptake and transport of Na to the shoot, hence rendering it susceptible to the damaging effects of high Na accumulation. In contrast, the low accumulation in huckleberry is a characteristic of tolerant nonhalophytes, which tend to avoid excess levels of Na in their leaves NaCl, sodium chloride; DW, dry weight; values, mean ± standard error (n = 3); for each column, the same letter means no significant difference, p < 0.05.…”

“…It has been classified as a moderately sensitive plant (Dajic 2006) and most of its cultivars studied have been shown to be affected by salinity stress owing to their inability to control or regulate the uptake and accumulation of Na in the leaves (Chartzoulakis and Loupassaki 1997;Savvas and Lenz 2000;Demir et al 2003;Akinci et al 2004;Unlukara et al 2010;Abbas et al 2010).…”

Effect of salinity on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) during seed germination stage

“…It has been shown that crops which are tolerant at seedling stage also show improved salinity tolerance at adult stage (Akinci et al 2004). …”

Response of Wheat Plants to Application of Selenium and Humic acid under Salt Stress Conditions

“…Decreasing K content with increasing salinity of irrigation water, on the other hand, may be due to the increase of NaCl concentration; Na+ content increased in leaves and fruits indicating that the eggplant (which has a glycophytic reaction) could not control uptake of Na+ (Akinci et al, 2004).…”